Overtime Elite is the newest name in town to hit the prep basketball scene. For years high school basketball was about competing for state championships and playing on the AAU and summer camp circuit. But Overtime Elite is here to change all that by offering players between the ages of 16 and 20 the chance to play for real money, before they enter the NBA draft. The league promises to pay players a minimum salary of 100 thousand dollars, and this year two of the top NBA draft prospects are from Overtime Elite, Ausar and Amen Thompson who are twin brothers. Yet how good are the players in Overtime Elite really? Because in 2023, only the Thompson twins are ranked among the top 100 NBA draft prospects, and this is the real reason why.

Overtime Elite is many things to many players

Overtime Elite came in the game fast and furious. The league is backed by quite a few people who have very real NBA experience. Pau Gasol, Carmelo Anthony, and Jay Williams all serve on its board of directors and the league has raised over 100 million dollars to get itself off the ground. But to be clear OTE is not in the basketball business, they are in the entertainment business, only they are doing it with prep school aged players. It is a league made by former prep school star players, for the current generation. But it is unproven because any professional league, which is exactly what OTE has become, is only as good as its players. 

I have to point out that some players in Overtime Elite choose to wave their salary. By doing so they maintain their eligibility to play in college. The truth is that players join OTE for different reasons. Some are there for the salary, even if they are not legit NBA prospects. Social media has allowed some prep school players like Eli Ellis to build a brand with over 200 thousand followers, even if he is only a 3 star basketball recruit on Rivals. So many of the players on OTE rosters will not be NBA players but can make some money now while they still can. Yet it remains to be seen how long the league will last with this model. Remember, once you start paying the players you are not in the basketball business anymore. You are in the entertainment business, and OTE did not turn a profit through 2021. 

Only the top prospects at any level are legit NBA talents 

The truth is that only the truly top prospects are NBA talents. The NBA draft lottery every year has about 3 or 4 All Stars, 3 or 4 players who will become starters, and at least 6 or 7 players who are bench warmers in the league. The odds of any league monopolizing all of the top NBA prospects are slim to none. Overtime Elite got the Thompson boys and Rob Dillingham to play in their league for 2023. All of which were top 15 recruits on ESPN for the Class of 2023. But on OTE’s website they also name Naasir Cunningham as a top NBA prospect from the Class of 2024 in their league. But he is only a 4 star recruit on ESPN. If Naasir is one of the best players, then how good are the rest of the players?

The leading scorer in the 2023 OTE playoffs was Jordan Burks. He is a 4 star recruit in the class of 2023 who signed with Ole Miss to continue his basketball career in college. He didn’t enter the NBA draft because as I already mentioned, he wouldn’t have been selected ranked outside the top 100 draft eligible players. Most OTE players are not only not good enough for the NBA but they likely wouldn’t make it onto the G League Ignite program’s roster either. They are simply good high school basketball players who are destined to play in D1. Playing for OTE offers them the chance to make money, but with the risk of losing their NCAA eligibility. At that point it is a choice between making money right now, and perhaps not even making it as a pro after that, or playing basketball for free and going to college afterwards. For the record they could have played basketball without a salary and still gotten recruited to college, at any typical high school basketball program already! 

Overtime Elite is only one of many options 

Overtime Elite is here today, but it is uncertain whether they will be gone tomorrow. It is a nice idea that seemed a lot nicer when there was no NIL right for college athletes and the G league Ignite didn’t exist. Now both of those things are an option, and OTE offers players the chance to play in a league made by the players for the players. That alone might be worth it, but the entertainment business could care less about it. They want to see dollar signs, and the more the better. OTE is already writing 100 thousand dollar checks, but we will have to wait and see if they can actually cash them in. For right now any player who makes it to the league from Overtime Elite, obviously didn’t really need them anyway.

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